that smaller tactical targets needed to be
addressed by an aircraft like the A-10.
Details of the A-10’s participation and
effectiveness have been scarce. Action
against IS has actually been reported in Iraqi
news services, where the A-10 is referred
to as the ‘wild boar’. A batch of statistics
reported that the A-10 had been in more
than 11 per cent of the missions against
IS, although it clearly came late to the
operations.
Back home, the A-10 continues to appear
in the news. Intense discussions continue
between Congress and the Pentagon
regarding the future of the ‘Warthog’. The
USAF needs to save money and it says that
removing the A-10 from its inventory is the
preferred solution. However, the aircraft has
several proponents in Congress, including
Senators Kelley Ayotte and John McCain,
both of whom serve on the Senate Armed
Services Committee. These senators have
fi rst-hand knowledge of the aircraft as
Ayotte’s husband was an A-10 pilot and
former US Navy pilot McCain represents
the state of Arizona, the location of the main
active-duty A-10 wing. A succession of fi rst-
hand accounts from Army personnel whoserved in Afghanistan have been used as
supporting evidence to save the aircraft.
However, the USAF is quietly moving
A-10s into retirement in order to channel
personnel into the F-35 program and is
making plans for a future without the ‘Hog’.
It emerged in February that A-10Cs are being
transferred into back-up inventory status. Lt
Erin Ranaweera from Davis-Monthan AFB
said that 18 combat-coded A-10s from the
wider fl eet of active-duty units are being
moved to the ‘back-up aircraft inventory’ or
BAI. This involves nine ‘D-M’ jets, plus six at
Moody AFB, Georgia and three at Nellis AFB,
Nevada. The USAF is currently authorized to
place up to 36 A-10s into BAI status, under
provisions of the 2015 National Defense
Authorization Act passed last year. ‘While we
are authorized by Congress to put 36 aircraft
into BAI status, doing that now would
require taking down an entire squadron’, said
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James.
‘Out of respect for the intent of Congress,
we’re placing 18 aircraft in BAI status’. Gen
Mark Welsh, the USAF chief, added: ‘We
will revisit this action as the year progresses
to assess the need to put the additional 18
aircraft into BAI status.’The service says that to address the shortfall
created by moving these A-10s into BAI it
will convert the 4th Fighter Squadron at Hill
AFB, Utah, from the F-16 to the F-35 earlier
than planned. The Air Force had planned
to introduce the fi rst F-35A at Hill alongside
the existing F-16s there, but does not have
suffi cient maintainers to do so. Now, the
F-16s will be cascaded down to the ANG to
replace A-10s as they are withdrawn.
Secretary James has defended the renewed
budget proposal to begin retiring the A-10
despite the current mission in Iraq. She said
recently: ‘The A-10 has done a magnifi cent
job, but so has the F-16 and the F-15E, and
the B-1 has been a contributor and there
have been a number of aircraft that have
contributed to the totality of close air support.
So to me, close air support is not a plane, it’s
a mission.’
Ultimately, the decision on the future of the
A-10 boils down to whether it is decided that
other types can adequately fi ll the gap left by
the CAS specialist. Clearly the A-10 is able to
get right in among the action, and represents
a valuable ally for the Army’s ground troops,
but does it ultimately do what others cannot?
The argument will continue...A 23rd Wing
A-10C high above
Afghanistan. The
Thunderbolt II has
been a regular feature
of the ‘Enduring
Freedom’ mission.
USAF/SrA Aaron Allmonhttp://www.combataircraft.net May 2015 3328-33 A-10 C.indd 33 19/03/2015 10:30